Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl

Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl was born in Reykjavík on July 1st 1978. He finished his secondary education in Ísafjörður in the Westfjords in Iceland in 1999 and later studied German in Berlin in 2003.

As well as being a writer, Eiríkur has done a number of jobs through the years, taught at grade school, done painting jobs at a ship yard, been a night guard at a hotel, worked at homes for handicapped people, been a caregiver at old people's homes, a cleaner at a cruise ship and a chef at a day care center, to name some.

He is one of the founders of Nyhil, a publishing house that focuses on writings by young people and also organizes various cultural events. Eiríkur Örn has organized a number of festivals and poetry programs for Nyhil in Reykjavik, Berlin and in Ísafjörður. He was the director of The Nyhil International Poetry Festival held in Reykjavik in August 2005 and the same festival in November 2006. A large group of Icelandic and foreign poets took part in these festivals.

Eiríkur was also director of Traktor in Ísafjörður, a sub-company of Bjartur Publishing House, which should focus on fresh and provocative literature by Icelandic and foreign authors.

Eiríkur Örn's first published book is the poetry book Heilagt stríð - runnið undan rifjum drykkjumanna (A Wholy War - Initiated by Drinkers) which he published himself in 50 copies in 2001. Earlier (in 2000) he had published three short stories, each in a booklet. Since then, Eiríkur has sent forward more books of poetry, published by Nyhil, in Icelandic and English, as well as two novels. The latter, Eitur fyrir byrjendur (Poison for Beginners) came out in 2006. His poetry has also appeared in collections and magazines in Iceland and abroad. Furthermore, Eiríkur Örn is a translator, both of fiction and non fiction, and has written articles about literature and social issues for newspapers, magazines and radio.

Eiríkur is a productive blogger, as can be seen on his site fjallabaksleidin.blogspot.com, as well as on other sites, such as the literary website Tíu þúsund tregawött (tregawott.net) and the Nyhil website (nyhil.org). In 2008 Eiríkur received the Icelandic Translation Award for his translation of Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. Among other books he’s translated is Maíkonungurinn – selected poems by Allen Ginsberg and 131.839 slög með bilum, an anthology of foreign contemporary and experimental poetry.